DAYTONA BEACH -- Yes, there is ample growth occurring in Daytona Beach, and politicians are coming out of the woodwork to blow the trumpet. Yet they are silent on the creation of creating jobs that pay middle-class wages and violent crime that has plagued Daytona Beach -- mainland and beachside alike.
The violent crime stats are telling, which is why our upcoming investigative series, "How Safe Are We?" is vitally important.
But the reality is the hot air of government-speak and a dying print medium all too eager to promote as long as the taxpayer-funded advertising continues to roll in for the four-year owners of the Daytona Beach News-Journal, acquired off the scrap heap of a federal court-supervised sale for a mere $20 million, a fraction of what the former top 100 metro daily was worth just a half decade earlier.
Sure, Daytona Beach is experiencing a building renaissance, but that's primarily in the core tourist beachside and with Daytona International Speedway. In between, Daytona is a sorry state. Violent crime is pronounced and the lack of jobs for families struggling just to keep the lights on can't be stressed enough.
Sure, Daytona Beach is experiencing a building renaissance, but that's primarily in the core tourist beachside and with Daytona International Speedway. In between, Daytona is a sorry state. Violent crime is pronounced and the lack of jobs for families struggling just to keep the lights on can't be stressed enough.
In reality, nothing has really changed, but the public relations. A decade ago, Daytona officials were touting the awesomeness of the Ocean Walk retail/condo development and the refurbishing of the former Adam's Mark, now the Daytona Hilton.
These coincided with a major expansion of the Ocean Center. But after the promotion, the luster wore off and the impact was negligible.
Sure, Daytona has plans approved for the the Hard Rock Hotel along South Atlantic Avenue will be built soon and One Daytona, the retail complex adjoining the Speedway, along with its $400 million renovation are promising, but the reality is that with something new, existing businesses have to either take it up a both or fall by the wayside.
Consider the impact One Daytona will have on the Volusia Mall or the Hard Rock on nearby hotels and reality sets in. By no means do we wish to come across as naysayers or negative, but it takes real courage to speak up and put things in perspective.
The sad reality for Daytona Beach as a whole is the lack of decent-wage paying jobs and escalating violent crime.
The sad reality for Daytona Beach as a whole is the lack of decent-wage paying jobs and escalating violent crime.
What's truly amazing about Volusia County is the plethora of colleges from public Dayton State College to the nationally renowned Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Stetson University, along with a branch campus for the University of Central Florida, Keiser College, Palmer Chiropractic College and others.
Yet, so many of our young people are not returning here after high school and college studies because jobs are sorely lacking. Volusia County is home to Walmarts in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach and Deltona. Government, including the public schools, remain the No. 1 employer.
Let's not forget that Volusia County holds the distinction of being the third highest taxed county among Florida's 67 while being third from the bottom across the state in producing tax revenue.
Projects like those occurring at Daytona International Speedway are vitally important as the Speedway is a global draw as witnessed by the popularity of Speedweeks and Sunday's running of the Daytona 500. But jobs are desperately needed. And nowhere is that more evident than in Daytona Beach.
For all that is being put into the Hard Rock Hotel and the so-called Russian Towers, sidewalks and streets are literally crumbling. While the News-Journal continues beating the drum of business, it's doing so because it is massively subsidized by by a host of county and municipal governments as well as special taxing districts -- to the tune of upwards of $1.5 to $2 million annually.
For all that is being put into the Hard Rock Hotel and the so-called Russian Towers, sidewalks and streets are literally crumbling. While the News-Journal continues beating the drum of business, it's doing so because it is massively subsidized by by a host of county and municipal governments as well as special taxing districts -- to the tune of upwards of $1.5 to $2 million annually.
In fact, Volusia County has the distinction of being the lone county in the Sunshine State with three advertising authorities and three publicly-taxed hospital districts.
The sad reality is Volusia County governments are made up of overpaid administrators with public relations specialists who churn out press releases that serve to promote the agenda of insiders and politicians.
We keep hearing these reports about large jobs coming to Volusia County this year yet there's no concrete description.
Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, who was nearly invisible as far as the print paper's coverage was concerned in the first year of his 2012 election, is the latest public official to grace the pages of the News-Journal.
Henry, who campaigned on the mantra of "One City, One Vision," and has the slogan repeated for the headline. states in part, "We have a less-than-40 percent homeowner occupancy rate, a crisis with the homeless, and several major thoroughfares that are not consistent with our natural beauty and underscore a city with infrastructure concerns. Additionally, the itinerant nature of many of our visitors coupled with the high mobility rate of our residents distort our crime statistics."
On the first part he's correct. On the latter he's dead wrong.
Consider:
-- An elderly man dies of a heart attack in a violent carjacking at gunpoint;
-- A 12-year-old boy answering the door at his family residence is shot in the face ands killed by drug dealer;
-- A man is purposely run over while being chased until he's dead;
-- A man is beaten to a pulp and stripped down to his socks, his lifeless body dumped on of all places, the roof of the historic Peabody Auditorium.
These are just a few of the seemingly endless violent crimes committed over the last three years alone where poverty, race and mistrust of the cops is too commonplace.
To add insult to injury, Daytona Beach's municipal government and the News-Journal glorify the name-calling and boorish behavior of Police Chief Michael Chitwood while ignoring the abuses of his captains -- one of whom has a history os sexual harassment involving female officers and another captain who fixed a ticket for a lawyer cited for impeding the emergency lights and sirens of an ambulance.
There is massive corruption involving at least one of the three ad authorities and one council member, the political witch-hunt that has become the county Waverly Media investigation and the waster of taxpayer money in duplicating what has already being investigated by the State Attorney's Office.
When it comes to PR spin, the News-Journal is in a position to pander once the candidates that get elected -- whether supported or not by the print paper -- assume office because of the flow of advertising revenue, courtesy of the taxpayer.
Consider how candidate Henry was treated by the News-Journal, with a portion of the following we wrote (highlighted in italics):
The story by the Daytona Beach News-Journal headlined, "Primary results for Daytona mayor indicate race plays factor," is overly simplistic and lacking any depth beyond looking at polling districts.
The first two paragraphs in the story says it all: "DAYTONA BEACH -- A day may come when Daytona Beach voters are all colorblind, but Tuesday's primary suggests it won't be Nov. 6, when residents choose who they want to lead the city until the end of 2016."
The second paragraph states: "Whoever makes it to the mayor's office -- primary winner Edith Shelley, who is white, or runner-up Derrick Henry, who is black -- might well be the candidate who does a better job of breaking down the racial divide. A look at results in each of the city's 15 precincts in this week's mayoral primary contest shows strong racial leanings."
So what's the point?
If you're black you'll vote black and if you're white, you'll vote white? Really?
How about looking beyond the racial stereotypes and getting to the heart of the matter? Those same voter districts show the vast majority of black residents do not live on the beachside nor own businesses that close to the World's Most Famous Beach, the city where until the late 1960s, schools were still segregated by color and blacks not long before that could even go to the beach with the whites.
Headline Surfer® endorsed Henry for mayor in 2012 and he won handily, debunking the News-Journal's lame race-baiting.
But now-elected Henry is welcomed with open arms by the paper that so easily dissed him during his campaign, even pointing out in the first months of his leadership position how a rental property of his ended up in bankruptcy, under the guise of news and in our opinion, to embarrass him.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal under the ownership of Halifax Media and its titular head in Michael Redding is all about promoting the political and business insiders and giving the politicians a free pass on the news that is going unreported except what we can pick up with the precious few resources we have available.
Eventually, the the journalism wins out when the facts are based on truth.
And that is all we can do is report the hell out of the news and hope to continue getting our scraps of advertising revenue to keep the print newspaper with its insider connections in check.